Potential Pitfalls

While many healthcare organizations are increasingly capable of carrying out various strategic planning exercises, effective implementation and monitoring of strategic and tactical action plans is still a major challenge. Many people have memories of long meetings and tedious planning processes that produced a beautiful plan that was never fully implemented. A healthcare organization will be able to create a shared framework for the future and achieve desired results by avoiding the following pitfalls that are commonly associated with the strategic planning process:

Failure to involve key stakeholders in the planning process

Setting unrealistic expectations

Failure to articulate assumptions and constraints

Lack of resources and time for planning

Strategic planning considered to be a one-time event, rather than a process

Disagreement on priorities and strategic planning outcomes

Leadership indifference or destructive interpersonal conflicts

Failure to address resistance to change

Excessive focus on current operational issues

Roles and responsibilities not clearly defined

Relying on inadequate or inaccurate information

Ineffective communication

Lack of ownership and accountability for results

Strategic planning becomes a substitute for leadership

Unwillingness or inability to respond to the changes in business environment

Creating overwhelming, inflexible and complicated documents

Lack of systematic processes for monitoring and control

Incentives and rewards not aligned with strategic goals

Lack of authority and resources for implementation

Establishing and pursuing too many strategic goals

Lack of contingency planning

Organizational culture that does not inspire innovation and strategic thinking